San Francisco 49ers Relieved With Patrick Willis Injury

By Lucas Carreras

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Through a little over a week into training camps for all 32 NFL teams, the one bit of news that has dominated above all else has been the fact that several teams have lost key starters to season ending injuries to date.

The Philadelphia Eagles have lost wide receiver Jeremy Maclin to a torn ACL while the Baltimore Ravens lost tight end Dennis Pitta to a fractured hip. On Wednesday, the San Francisco 49ers and their fans held their collective breaths as all-world linebacker Patrick Willis got injured.

Willis injured his right hand while attempting to bat down a pass and in the process hit his hand on top of the helmet of fullback Bruce Miller. Luckily for Willis and the 49ers, the injury was just a “slight fracture” and he should be ready to go Week 1 of the season.

All things considered, Willis only suffering a “slight fracture” of his right hand, was the best news the 49ers and its fans could have hoped for given the possibilities of what may have happened. Frankly, at least the team and its fans will not have to worry about Willis potentially hurting himself during a preseason game.

As a 49ers fan, I am okay with Willis not playing at all during the preseason. At this stage of his career and where the 49ers are at as a team in terms of ambitions and end goals, the last thing I need is to hold my breathe and hope that none of the main players needed for a Super Bowl run get injured during a preseason game.

While you can’t win the Super Bowl during training camp or preseason, you can certainly lose it with a loss of a key player(s) to injury. While it is not ideal to have Patrick Willis miss time practicing because of a “slight fracture” to his hand, all things considered, the 49ers and its fans should feel relived that the injury Willis suffered wasn’t worst.

Lucas Carreras is a contributing San Francisco 49ers writer for RantSports.com. You can follow Lucas on Twitter by following him @maldini3fan and you can add him to your circles on Google+.